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Once again we are seeking the intrepid adventurers among you to do your international bests for the annual weekend visit to France to take part in the Marolles races; the 5k, or semi-marathon, or something even shorter for our youngest members.

Anyone who has already enjoyed the French hospitality will know what a great time we had staying in the homes of the Marolles runners. You might eat too much, drink too much and see 'Cog au Vin revisited' half way round the semi-marathon course, but what the heck you are there to enjoy yourself.

This year I hope more members will free themselves form the shackles of work and mundane responsibilities, make a booking for family and friends, GET A LIFE and come on down and party.

Year on year between 15 and 20 members of A.S. Marolles brave uncertain autumn climate to stay as our guests and take part in our Downland Races.

Our Club members, on the other hand, blow hot and cold, some year we've had a coach load go to Marolles, other years only a handful. Last year only two of us, Peter Masters and I kept the connection alive.

Can we make a better showing this year?

Here are the details:

Supporting races 1K, 2K and 5K

Races start at 9am. APRES RACE PICNIC & PARTY UNTIL LATE

Travel down: sharing cars on Friday (or Saturday if necessary), return on Monday.

If you would like to go or you want to know more, please, contact:

Alf Medhurst or Jenny Jones

The Lewes/Marolles connection is one of the best of our Club traditions. Please, support it - you wont regret it.

Last year the over 60 team became the Sussex Champions. They are looking to defend their title so watch this space.

Last year also other age group teams did well so put this date in your diary.

Again this year the Club is putting on the Easter Monday Fun Runs. It again will start and finish at the Track with runs of 10K and 2 miles.

Entry forms are being circulated and the organisation is well underway. This year again volunteers are being sought to help with a whole range of tasks.

This year is even more important to secure helpers as Peter Masters will be away during the most of April. He has organised each of the fun runs since 1984 but this year will not be around at Easter.

For a number of reasons the club has decided to join the Southern Men's league. We will be going in at the bottom and it is very much a case of 'suck and see.'

We wanted to give our up and coming young athletes a chance to extend their competition opportunities. It is also an opportunity for the older athletes to stretch their legs and arms and compete in a league.

We are looking for a team manager to take on the task of putting together a team for each event so if there is someone out there willing to accept the challenge please give Peter Masters a ring on 01273 471115.

The first event is on Saturday 3^rd May. The league fixtures are as follows.

1. Saturday May 3^rd
2. Saturday May 17^th
3. Saturday May 31^st
4. Saturday June 28^th
5. Saturday July 12^th
6. Saturday August 2^nd

Last year, thanks to the efforts of Leila Trubridge, the Club had already joined the Southern Women's League last year. This was very much on a trial basis and this coming season we have again entered.

This year the matches are as follows

1. Saturday April 26^th
2. Saturday May 17^th
3. Saturday June 7^th
4. Saturday July 5^th
5. Saturday August 9^th
6. Saturday September 6^th

With increasing interest in joining Lewes AC and the demand that this continues to place on

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existing coaches we are looking to increase the numbers of qualified coaches. Are you interested?

There are various levels of qualification and the Club is able to help with the costs. Level one is the first step and consists of a one-day course.

The courses take place at various venues and the next series of Level One courses are as follows.

Sunday May 4^th at Horsham (Closing date April 20^th)

Sunday October 19^th at Ashford (Closing date September 30^th)

Sunday December 14^th at Guildford (Closing date November 30^th)

Sunday February 15^th 2004 at Horsham (Closing date February 1^st 2004)

Sunday April 18^th 2004 at Ashford (Closing date April 4^th 2004)

The next step up on the coaching ladder is Level Two. These take place over two days and the programme of courses are as follows

October 25/26 2003 (January 10 or 11) at Guildford (Closing date October 4^th)

January 24/25 2004 (March 13 or 14) at Horsham (Closing date January 3^rd)

March 27/28 2004 (May 22 or 23) at Ashford (Closing date 6^th March 2004)

If you are interested in helping and extending your coaching knowledge please contact Carol Shuttleworth at the track or give her a ring on 01273 477322.

Even if you don't want to take the coaching pathway the club still needs much more help so please make contact to see what you can do.

You may have seen the 3-4 foot snowfall in the Eastern US on the news. Maybe you even wondered how people get to run in such weather. We go to the gymn. The day of the snowstorm there were fines for people caught driving for non-essential reasons. Getting in my long run of course counted as essential - and the roads sure were quiet.

In July and August it is too hot and humid to run outside. And in January and February it is just too snowy/icy/downright cold. In the last few weeks I've been doing 35-40 miles a week. Of 100 miles perhaps 12 have been outside, another 12 on an indoor track and the rest on the treadmill, including two two hour runs. The 10k I had entered was cancelled on account of the weather - that was before the snowstorm.

But here are some impressions of racing in the US: it's expensive, far, early and rather slow. Most races - and most races are 5k with the occasional 10k - set you back twenty bucks. There's no equivalent of £1 cross-country or £3 fun runs. Anything over 10k and the price rises exponentially. I'm on an email list for local runs. The fact that the list is based in Baltimore - i.e. the next city - gives some idea that the word local is interpreted a bit loosely. So it regularly features races one or two states away - drive 3 hours to run a 10k and then another 3 hours back. Why not? One reason why not is that races start at 8 am or earlier in summer. However, once you get there, especially if it is out of the way, the chances are that you - and I mean you, whoever you are - will be near the top of the field. I was 28^th from 300 in the Mountain Masochist 50 and that's meant to be a leading national event. In the Marine Corps marathon I was 150^th out of over 11,000 runners. And in a 10k out in rural Maryland I was just beaten to 2^nd with a time of around 39 minutes.

And if people are slow in races they almost stop altogether for training. At track night you will find more club members walking round the track then you will running it, and most of those for a couple of laps at best. Speed training means just doing two laps so as to finish quickly in time for club pizza night. I declined an invitation to pace a "tempo marathon group" at 11 minute miling for a 90 minute run. So come to our the Prince George's Country Runners annual race - the Springburst 8k on March 8. It's in Greenbelt Park, which is on oasis of wild woodland. And you might win.

1. Run, yes you really do have to - or none of the following works much.

2. Do it because you want to. But take some time to work out just how much, so when other things come along and you don't run (or do), you, and the people that are important to you, understand why.

3. And if you don't want to, don't. Lay off for a day, a week, or try something different for a while. Cycle, go to the gym, climb, watch TV, go on holiday, chill.

4. Clubs and training partners. Little known fact: Runners are sociable creatures who sometimes get together and offer each other greetings, support and encouragement. Clubs are a proven way to do this. Training partners are great too. Talk to someone in the club, and suggest going for a run, remember to add the support and encouragement bits.

5. You don't have to want to run faster or even have to race. But might find that as you run more, and meet more runners, you can feel just a bit embarrassed about appearing competitive. Don't be, more than a few are desperately racing each other - but won't always admit it.

6. The science bit says (more or less) that if you want to run fast you need to run fast (technical term, do speed work). To keep it up you build

an endurance base (technical term, run on the downs for an hour in the rain).

7. The catch is that if you do too much (technical term, over-train) you get demotivated (technical term, get p***** off with running). See 3 above.

8. Start a training log. Write down when you run and how quick or long it was, and how it felt. Write down what you eat. Instant weight management and better nutrition too, honest. You follow your progress and get a feel for what works quite quickly.

9. Prizes. If you run well you win prizes. Winning is relative. Those more spiritual in outlook may be totally fulfilled by the benefits they bring to humanity by achieving a particular time. For others, material rewards are appropriate. Gore Tex is a very satisfactory material, shopping is very Zen when you do it properly.

10. There is no such word as can't, but later and instead are ok.

TUESDAY NIGHT TRAINING - SENIOR RUNNERS

Meeting at 7pm in the Track Control Room.

4^th The March Lion - Hill Session

11^th Lewes Pancake - Flattish Fartlek

18^th Two Loops and a Hill - 3 Hard Efforts

25^th The March Lamb - Yacht Handicap race (using the middle section of the Round the Town course)

I would like to thank those who have participated on Tuesday Nights during this winter and for your feedback, most of which has been friendly and helpful.

In putting the programme together, I had in mind the following objectives:

1. To complement the existing Club training sessions on Sundays and Thursdays
2. To offer strength/endurance sessions suitable for most runners
3. To give individuals scope to vary their workloads in each session
4. To give variety in order to stimulate enthusiasm on dreary winter evenings

The Club offers a long steady run on Sunday morning, mostly off-road, which gives members the chance to improve their stamina whilst enjoying a good sociable meeting. On Thursdays, a track training session is organised; a good aerobic workout with the emphasis on interval work carried out at racing speed or faster. The track is well lit, the surface is benign and is a great facility to enjoy.

So why offer something different on Tuesday nights? Why not offer another track session?

Well, the fact is that nearly all senior are not training to be track athletes; they are racing in cross-country and road races form 5K to marathons. Also, in Lewes we have another superb facility - WE HAVE HILLS, LOST OF HILLS!

Running uphill and downhill exercises the part that track running cannot reach; running on gradients exercise far more groups of muscle fibres, which means stronger and better formed muscles which are less likely to breakdown under the rigours of training and racing.

Moreover, running uphill brings us to aerobic debt very quickly - an intensive way of improving aerobic efficiency.

This when muscles and lungs become conditioned by hill work we perform better on all courses even the flat ones, and we are better prepared to face the psychological challenge when we come up against energy sapping hills in races.

Although the session can give a hard workout it is up to individuals to choose how much work to do; runners might be recuperating from a Sunday race are not fully fit - in these circumstances they might be best advised not to give it 100% or to miss out part of the session. I rely on runners to tell me how they are feeling and what level of work they want; quality and quantity can then be changed to suit their needs.

If you haven't been coming along on Tuesday evening lately than it would be particularly good to see you.

Tel: 01273 515 967

LEAN, MEAN RUNNING MACHINE!

Here is the first of several instalments on fitness for running and seeing that it is January it seems logical to start with weight loss. Most people seem to feel at this time of the year that they could lose a little weight and that could range from a few pounds to a few stone. As runners we know that being lighter makes our bodies more efficient and that means greater speed and endurance. Current lifestyles and eating habits can make this a hard task to achieve and as a general rule the less you have to lose the harder it seems to be.

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If only it was that easy! The next point to clear up is there is weight loss and there is fat loss. Often the two go together particularly when losing a lot of weight, but many people neglect the body fat percentage and focus only on the weight on the scales. For improved running the lower the weight and the lower the body fat the better and here is an example of how dramatic this can be.

Research has revealed that there is a sliding scale of weight in runners who have won Olympic gold medals.

It is important to remember that very low weight and body fat is not necessarily healthy and these kinds of levels would be achieved mainly by elite runners.

In considering weight loss there are several factors that influence your ability to shed the kilos:

Firstly and most importantly is your dedication and determination, especially if it is only one or two kilos you are trying to shift.

Secondly the length of time you have spent at your existing weight, those who have had a stable weight for a long time will find it harder to alter.

Thirdly your physical activity levels - and this is not including your training.

That one chocolate bar does count! Write down absolutely everything you have eaten and drunk over the last four days, if you can remember back that far and then maintain it for another two days. Now you have six days food to look at. Highlight everything you consider "bad" or not necessary and be strict. Include all sweets, crisps, biscuits, cakes, cereal bars, chocolate, puddings and yoghurts etc. Set yourself a goal to cut these out completely - here's where the determination bit comes in. If you only want to shed a couple of kilos this is where you will do it, combined with physical activity. At the end of the week when you have been really good, don't weaken for that one pudding, it counts. Also note that alcohol is very high in calories, especially beer. If your existing diet is totally perfect but you still feel overweight, then remember that no matter how healthy the food, if you don't burn it off it will be converted to fat and stored.

EXISTING WEIGHT

As mentioned if you have spent a long time at your current weight then you basically have to work harder to instigate lifestyle changes to lose weight. The main difference between losing weight slowly and sensibly and a fad diet that won't work is putting into place realistic long term changes that you can stick to. Aim to lose no more than 1 kilo (2 pounds) per week because any more will slow your metabolism and increase your fat storing enzymes as your body effectively goes into starvation mode.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

This is not your vigorous exercise which should be 3-6 times per week (depending on your goals and ambitions, fitness level, age and training history) but how generally active you are in everyday life. This is where calories are really burnt off. One pound of fat =3500kcal, your average workout burns 200-400kcal (much less in short sessions) so you would have to work out more than seven times a week to burn that off. Clearly this will not happen in exercise alone so try brisk walking for at least 30 minutes a day to become more active and if you can't fit it in during the day, walk in the evening after the evening meal. Try to cut down on using the car, walk as much as possible to work/gym/track. How many of us drive to the track to train? That jog or walk down would make a huge difference to the total kcal burnt in a session.

MEAL TIMES

The time of day that you eat at is also important, and eating our main meal at lunch means you will burn it off later in the day. For most people this is impossible so think about the quality and quantity of the evening meal. At breakfast you need carbohydrate for energy so cereal/fruit/toast is good. At lunch you still need energy so your typical sandwich is fine, but watch the fillings and spreads because these are generally high in fat. Now, try thinking of your evening meal as making up what you haven't had rather than a huge binge, for example you probably need some protein and vitamins/minerals but you don't need much energy, so cut down or cut out the carbs - perhaps meat with vegetables but without (or only a few) potatoes. If you eat pasta in the evening have more vegetables and a little less pasta. Also, remember that huge gaps between meals will make you very hungry and therefore you will want an instant high fat and sugar fix, so try snacking on fruit and dried fruit in between meals. Watch the empty kcal in sweet and fizzy drinks, opt for water instead and try to drink at least two litres per day.

Finally, if you always tell yourself that you are on a diet then you will constantly crave what you can't have since you are thinking about it all the time. Be strict but also enjoy what you eat and if you are going out for a meal then budget for this during the day by eating less. My last point is if you really want it, then have it, but remember do you want it enough to wear it?!

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Ian Donald         39:48          157th

Bob Hughes       41:55          244th (M50, 3Oth)

737 Men Runners, approx 1000 overall.

Saturday 8^th, English Schools Champs, Stanmer Park, Brighton

Fri 14 - Sun 16, T/F World Indoor Champs, Birmingham

Saturday 15^th, Sussex XC League (4), Lancing

Sunday 16^th, Hastings half marathon, Hastings

Saturday 22^nd, T/F Open Meeting (prov), Crawley

Sunday 23^rd, Worthing 20 mile, Worthing Leisure Centre, 10.00am

Sunday 23^rd, Gatwick half marathon

Saturday 29^th, Sussex Road Relays, Christs Hosp Horsham

Saturday 5^th, T/F Open meeting, Crawley (Prov)

Sunday 6^th, Young Ath Road Relay, Sutton Park

Sunday 6^th, SEAA 12 Stage Relay, Milton Keynes

Sunday 13^th, London Marathon, London

Sunday 20^th, T/F Open meeting, Crawley (Prov)

Monday 21^st, Lewes Easter 10k & 2m, Lewes Leisure Centre, 10.45 & 11.15am

Saturday 26^th, T/F Southern Women's League (1)

Saturday 26^th, National 12 stage relay

Sunday 27^th, Christ's Hosp Ch 10K, Christ's Hosp Horsham

Wednesday 30^th, HHH, Open meeting inc 1 mile races, Crawley

Saturday 3^rd, T/F Southern Men's League (1)

Sunday 4^th, Horsham 10K, Horsham

Sunday 4^th, T/F National Young Athlete's League (1)

Sat 10^th - Sun 11^th, Sussex T/F Champs, Crawley

Sunday 11^th, Hedgehoppers 5 miles, Portslade Com. Centre, 11.00am

Saturday 17^th, T/F Southern Men's League (2)

Saturday 17^th , T/F Southern Women's League (2)

Sunday 18^th, T/F National Young Athlete's League (2)

Sunday 18^th , Hailsham Town 10m, Hailsham

Sunday 18^th, Bognor Prom 10k, Bognor

Wednesday 21^st, T/F Open Meeting, Crawley (Prov)

Wednesday 21^st, Trundle Hill 10k and 2m, Lavant Village Hall 7.00pm & 7.30pm

Sunday 25^th, T/F Open Meeting, Worthing

Sat 24^th - Sun 25^th, SEAA U15 & U17 Champs, Watford (Prov)

Sun 25^th - Mon 26^th , CAU Inter Counties Champ

Saturday 31^st, T/F Southern Men's League (3)

Spikes: The Club has a small number of second hand spikes available for sale: - sizes between 6 - 9. Ring Jackie Lucas evenings. Club vests: Ring Jackie Lucas evenings.

James Brickell, Sports and Remedial Massage Therapist, Camois Court, Barcombe Mills Road, Barcombe. Special rate for Lewes AC members: fifteen pounds a session (mention this ad). Phone:

This Ammonite was produced by Slavo Radosevic and edited by Peter Masters. All submissions welcome (particularly articles on events you have participated in) from club members - including juniors. Please e-mail them to s.radosevic@clara.co.uk.